Applied Chemistry 225
by itsactuallycorrine
Summary: When a chance encounter one morning makes Annie the object of affection for everyone at GCC, Jeff and Annie must work together to fix it. AU Plays with Annie/Britta, Annie/Troy, Annie/Abed, and basically Annie/everyone, but ultimately Annie/Jeff
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Community**_

**Prologue**

Annie Edison tried not to think about how she risked her personal safety every day by simply going to school. In a neighborhood of hookers, drug dealers, and gangs, it took a great deal of self-delusion to pull this off. But every day, Annie managed to pack the terror into a tidy drawer in her mind and show up – on time – to Greendale Community College to meet with her study group.

This was easier said than done, however, when she walked out one spring morning to find her car, sans tires and hood, awaiting her.

A strangled cry escaped her before she was able to bite it back. Inhaling deeply, she checked the time while simultaneously pulling out the neatly-filed bus schedule from her bag. (She did take a small moment's pleasure in the satisfaction that she had planned ahead for just this sort of contingency) There was no time to deal with the police, if they could even find someone willing to come down to this neighborhood for anything less than murder, but she had exactly seventeen minutes to make the next bus that would take her halfway across town to another bus that would transport her to GCC, ETA 9:21 depending on traffic. It was forty-one minutes later than she normally arrived, and twenty-one minutes after everyone would be filing into study room F.

Knowing her friends like she did, though, and knowing how well they knew _her_, Annie decided she'd better forewarn them of her delay. Jeff and Britta had gotten strangely protective following Troy's birthday.

Plus, if she was on her phone while walking to the bus, it would make her less of a target to muggings or any other untoward activity her "neighbors" may inflict.

Unfortunately, Britta's phone went straight to voicemail, and Annie knew that it sometimes took Britta weeks to return calls. She could call Troy, but he wasn't the most reliable messenger. Abed never answered his phone in the morning, since that was his time to "get into character" (his words, not Annie's), Shirley didn't appreciate having her morning with her boys interrupted, Annie had deleted Pierce's number from her phone months ago, so that really only left one person.

As Annie speed-dialed Jeff (what? she had it for all of her friends, and it didn't mean anything that Jeff was #2 and her parents were #3 and 4 respectively) she noticed a kid going alarmingly fast on his bike approaching. Crowding back against a storefront, she heard one ring right before impact. The kid purposely swerved towards her, and Annie jumped back against the door behind her, screaming, while the kid laughed and kept going. The phone against her ear rang again, and Annie's weight pushed the door open, and between the shock and gravity, Annie found herself lying on her back in a shop she'd never noticed before.

Shakily, she ended the call before Jeff had even answered, and tried to sit up while she caught her breath. The air was thick with patchouli, cloves and something herbal, and Annie wondered for a horrified second if she was close to accidentally inhaling marijuana smoke. The shop was clean with tidy shelves stocked full of crystals and bundles of herbs and books. The windows were draped with bright blue and orange drapes that must be dark on the opposite side, because Annie had never ever noticed this place before.

In the center of the small room, there was a table adorned with a purple runner and a well-worn stack of cards. A cigarette (or joint, Annie thought numbly) lay burning in an ash tray on a black stool near the table. Rising to her feet, Annie moved towards the door, fumbling to redial Jeff, when a white cat ran into the room, meowing, and intertwining itself between Annie's legs.

"Ah, Cleo, I see you found our visitor," a slightly-raspy woman's voice said. Annie jumped and turned, trying to avoid stepping on the cat, as she watched a stranger enter the room from a back door. "Hello, little one," the woman said to Annie, then bent to pick up the cat. The light from the windows finally illuminated her, revealing a willowy woman in her forties with pixie-short golden hair and sharp cheekbones. One of her slimmed, unadorned hands was idly scratching the cat's chin. If Annie had met this woman anywhere else, she'd assume the lady was one of what Jeff called the _Real Housewives of Greendale County_. "You want a reading."

It wasn't a question, but Annie answered it anyways. "No, actually, I just accidentally fell through your door. I'm so sorry to bother you and for trespassing, but it was an accid-"

The woman held up one hand. "There's no such thing as 'accidents'." She studied Annie for a moment. "You were brought here for a reason. There's a man, older than yourself, but maybe not quite as grounded or mature. He pushes you away, yet you want him."

Annie guiltily jerked her finger away from the 2 key on her phone. "Yes, his name is-"

"Don't tell me!" The woman waved Annie over to the table. "Tell me nothing. I know all I need to." Putting the cat down, she held out both hands to Annie. "My name is Sylvia. Please, come, sit."

No sooner had Annie sat on the second black stool than Sylvia began speaking again. "I sense a tribe, a group that you are close to. Your man is there, the leader. There is another older man, a mother, another woman, conflicted with a very damaged but sensitive core, and two young men whose energies are so intertwined that it's hard to pick one from the other. Ah, there it is. One of them, you loved him. But he was not for you, and that love was young and flimsy."

Sylvia took a contemplative puff off the burning cigarette, and smirked a little at Annie. "Don't worry, dear, it's just cloves. Perfectly legal." Crushing it, she joined Annie at the table. "Back to your dilemma; your man hasn't always been a good man, but deep down, a good soul is there. He worries that his attraction to you is the bad part of him resurfacing. At first, maybe. But now? No, you are friends, and sometimes romance takes bloom in friendship. He worries about hurting you, and thinks you'll be better off with one of the younger boys. He is wrong, but he is also stubborn, and-" She was cut off as Annie's phone began to vibrate.

Annie shook off the spell she'd felt she was under and looked down at the screen and saw a picture of Jeff's face. "I'm sorry," she told Sylvia. "I have to take this."

Sylvia smiled gently, and waved her off, taking Cleo into the back for breakfast. Annie hit Accept. "Hi, Jeff. Yes, I did try calling." Restless, confused, Annie rose and started pacing the perimeter of the shop. "My car is… broken. No! I didn't forget gas or an oil change or anything. Jeff, do I seem like the kind of person who would be careless with anything?" She smiled as he backed off, and tinkered with a little bottle on one of the shelves, looking around nervously before she opened it and investigated the contents. "I'll be on my way in a few minutes," she promised, pulling the stopper out of the bottle and inhaling the delicious fragrance, until Jeff's voice interrupted her euphoria. "What do you mean, it's nine o'clock already? Oh, shoot!" Annie jumped back as she toppled the bottle over in her anxiety, and a small stream of oil shot out and onto her hand. "Okay, I'm leaving right now. I'll call a cab and everything. Bye."

She set the bottle to rights, rubbing in the oil nervously, then opened her purse. She didn't know the going rate for a fortune telling, so she threw a $20 down and ran out, frantically dialing a cab company and beginning to run so she wasn't late.

In the tiny kitchenette, Sylvia smiled to herself as she heard the jingling of the door closing behind her young patron. Walking back into the shop, she knocked the small graceful, half empty oil decanter into the trash. After all, it had done its purpose.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Jeff Winger was many things. Normally, he would not count "worrier" as one of these things, but something odd had beset Greendale Community College. Annie's unprecedented tardiness yesterday had seemed to set into motion a series of events in which everyone (and he did mean _everyone_, from Leonard to Fat Neil) was being unnaturally attentive.

To Annie in particular.

Really, to Annie exclusively.

It was, in a word, disconcerting.

Nothing had seemed off at first; Annie Edison was a well-known, if not exactly popular, face on the campus, so a few people here and there calling out a greeting to her didn't seem out of place. Jeff had been standing in the hall playing Bejeweled on his phone (_not_ waiting around to make sure she arrived, clearly) and had glanced up in relief the first time someone had called out to her. As she came abreast of him, though, he started to notice that while moving through the crowd, Annie was leaving a path of infatuation behind her.

He wondered and silently gestured for her to precede him towards study room F, but didn't become concerned until they entered. And then he felt it; it was like the air was suddenly charged with electricity, sparking and buzzing as the entire group lifted their collective head and took notice of Annie's presence.

"Annie!" It came out of five mouths simultaneously, and Jeff could've sworn they were about to break into a round of applause, when Annie shot him a puzzled look then smiled shyly while taking her seat.

"Hi, everyone. Sorry about this morning. What did I miss?" She opened her bookbag and pulled out her neatly filed binder and notebook from their respective compartments, then looked up when no one answered her. Everyone but Jeff was grinning at her. "What happened?" She looked towards Jeff, who just shrugged in confusion. "Do I have something on my face?" she asked, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth and reach for her bag again.

To Jeff's further confusion, everyone laughed like Annie had just said the wittiest thing they'd ever heard.

Shirley wrapped an arm around Annie's shoulders and hugged her. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so glad that you choose to sit next to me every day." She sent a smug smile around the table. "_Every_ day," she repeated.

Jeff was still trying to process this when, with a rush, the other members made a scramble for the empty chair that separated him and Annie. Troy even went so far to climb _over_ the table, but Abed beat everyone to the spare seat and sent a small victorious smirk around the room.

Jeff finally couldn't contain his baffled irritation. "What the hell is going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know, too," Annie said, frowning.

Troy, now safely back in his seat, shook off his pout. "We really missed you this morning, Annie. It wasn't the same without you. And we love you." His face took on a soft, serious cast. "I love you."

Oooooh-kay. What? Jeff didn't realize he'd spoken until Annie glanced his way. And he saw it, she was freaked, on the surface, but behind it was the melting sentimentality that was loving this. Little Annie Adderall, with all her insecurities, was still in there, and Troy Barnes had just confessed his love.

"He doesn't mean it." For a horrified second, Jeff thought it had come out of his own mouth – again – but this time everyone turned to Britta instead. "He doesn't understand real love. He's just a man." Britta gave Annie a sultry smile that made Jeff sit up straight in his chair and pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "No one can love you like a woman can. No one can know all the intimacies of your body like a woman."

"And who better than a slightly more _mature_ woman?" Shirley interjected, resting her hand on Annie's arm. "I may not have _some_ people's experience in this area, but that can be nice. We'll learn together."

Now, Jeff knew he definitely wasn't dreaming. Not even his perverse imagination could have come up with _that_ scenario. "Alright, enough, guys. I don't know what game you're playing, but this isn't funny. Someone's going to-"

"Shut up, Winger," Pierce interjected, sending a lewd smile Annie's way. "If you're looking for maturity, look no further. I've got money, a mansion, and five years left max. I can make you a wealthy widow. And I know you'd appreciate the money. Because you're Jewish."

Annie grimaced her disgust, which caused a tidal wave of disapproval. Jeff looked to Abed. "Do you have anything to add?"

"No, Annie knows what I have to offer," he replied, then did that creepy eyebrow jiggle thing that reminded Jeff of jumping caterpillars.

"Okay, well, I'm sure Annie will take all of your declarations into consideration, but right now, can we please take our eyes off her and maybe – I don't know – study? Since this _is _a study-group and not an Annie Edison appreciation committee." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he cursed himself.

"I call being Chairman of the committee," Troy shouted, causing a fight of a whole new kind.

"It's called a chair_person_, Troy, and I want to be co-chair. Furthermore-"

"This is ridiculous," Jeff said to no one in particular over the din. He glanced at Annie, who was watching the proceedings with rapt interest. "I'm leaving to go study. Are you coming?"

"Noooo!" Five different voices called out. "Don't leave!"

Annie rested a hand on her neck and shot him a non-chalant smile and pointed at the proceedings. "I think I'm going to just, um, watch how this plays out. So, you know, no one gets hurt."

She was buying into this. She was completely letting this go to her head. Disgusted, Jeff nodded and walked out. The study room was blocked by a crowd of people all apparently staring through the blinds at the group. At Annie.

This was not natural. He had to get to the bottom of this.

Unfortunately, Annie was typically his partner for this type of thing.

It appeared as though he was on his own.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

In high school, Annie was, at the best of times, ignored and at the worst of times, the butt of every joke on campus. Even as a cheerleader and student council president, she wasn't popular or interesting. She was… Annie Edison, the overachiever who worked too hard and hid her addiction.

So this new… adoration was a nice change. A welcome change. And if the origins of this celebrity status were a little murky (as in, she had no idea what had changed) Annie was willing to overlook all of that to maintain the new status quo.

Sitting in the middle of the cafeteria with the entire population of Greendale hanging on her every word, Annie was telling them all about her previous night. At her side were all of her closest friends. Abed was listening raptly while Troy curled into his side, unable to be separated even in their adulation of her. Britta and Shirley were oohing and aahing, and Pierce had kept the inappropriate advances to a minimum.

Even Starburns joined in, laughing at her jokes, while the Dean offered to take her shopping, because he knew of a certain white-with-black-spots dress that would look fabulous on her.

And if the extra attention was a little unnerving, Annie was brushed aside that small tingle at the nape of her neck and went with it. What was a little sacrificed privacy for this level of attentiveness?

The only dark spot was Jeff; whatever spell had enchanted the rest of GCC had somehow bypassed him. He was being moody and distant and, frankly, sort of a douche. Or, at least, a bigger douche. Over the last two days, he had avoided Annie and was prone to walking out of a room in exasperation the minute any one of her admirers spoke up.

Just yesterday in Anthropology, Duncan had invited Annie to be the lecturer that day, and Jeff had packed up his things and walked out without a word. Duncan had offered to fail him on the spot, but Annie couldn't do that to Jeff. He was her friend. And if his immunity to her new appeal and his repugnance of the entire situation baffled and bothered her, so be it. She didn't _have _to be liked by everyone.

But somehow, the fact that it was _Jeff_ who her status was pushing away was displeasing, to say the least.

Even now, he was sitting alone across the cafeteria, not even looking in her direction. Although she – and the rest of her audience – were definitely looking in his.

Annie realized she had been quiet too long as unhappy grumblings made their way through the crowd. Most of them seem directed at Jeff, which was unfair, even if he was the cause of her displeasure. She tried to wipe the frown off her face, but it was too late as a few of her appreciators started heckling him.

"Get out of here, Winger!" "Boo!" "Douche bag!" "Forty-year-old Ryan Seacrest!"

Before Annie could rein them in, Jeff sent one disgusted look her way, a look filled with subtext that said _Are you happy now?_ and _Have you had enough yet?_ Then he wisely avoided confrontation and left.

"Hey, guys!" Annie stood up, instantly drawing their attention back. "I think it's time we all went to class. This has been great, but education is the reason we're here. So I'll just-"

Britta grabbed Annie's hand as Annie tried to make her exit to catch up with Jeff and apologize. "I'll walk you, Annie."

"Uh, Britta?" came Shirley's overly perky voice. "I think you're forgetting that it's Wednesday, and Wednesday is _my_ day to walk Annie to class."

Britta scoffed. "Says you. I never agreed to that ridiculous little time-table."

Annie shook off the other woman's hand and smiled. "Actually, neither one of you are in my next class, so I think I'll just walk myself."

"Don't be ridiculous," Pierce exclaimed, rising to his feet. "I just happened to prepare for this situation, and had one of my house boys bring a golf cart so I can drive you to all your classes."

"Uh, Pierce, that house boy was _me_, and I thought that was because your legs were still a little sore now that the casts are off?" Troy looked confused, but quickly recovered. "Anyway, Annie needs someone who can protect her from all this crowd. I'll be the Costner to your Whitney, even though I'm black and you're white. It will completely rewrite the movie for a new generation. _And IIIIIIIIIIIII will always love YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU._"

Annie winced as Troy went for the high note, and tried to back out slowly during the argument that was building. Abed, however, had foreseen that, and was waiting for her in the hallway. "Oh, Abed! You startled me."

"I thought I might. Don't worry about them, they'll get over it. I'll walk you to class. I'm sure someone much more peaceful and quiet like me would be a balm to your nerves right now."

"That… would be nice. Thanks, Abed." Annie smiled at him gratefully. "This whole thing has gotten a little out of control. Sometimes I think maybe Jeff is right and I should just – What are you doing?" She looked over at him, and he was watching her through a square he had created with his hands.

"You're my new muse for my films. The Grace Kelly to my Hitchcock." He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I can make you a star."

"That's extremely-" _creepy _"-flattering, Abed. But I think I've had all the fame I can handle." Annie stopped at the nearest door. "Oh, look, here's my class. See you later!"

She quickly closed the door behind herself and took a deep breath, then turned to find that this was not an empty classroom as she had hoped, but a lecture hall full of students all now her unwilling admirers. Without speaking, she opened the door, and backed out, and heard the commotion from within as the entire class – including the professor – got to their feet and started following her.

Behind her, her fans from the cafeteria were leading a hunt for her. She could hear Britta and Troy's voices raised above the rest as the continued to argue about who could walk her to class once they found her.

She tucked her head down and briskly started towards the door, when over the intercom, she heard the Dean. "Attention, Greendale students. Annie is head towards the main entry."

Annie swore and started out at a run, hoping beyond hope that once she reached the open air, this unbelievable curse would end. As she hit the doors, however, she heard behind her, "Annie!"

Shirley had spotted her. She was doomed.

Just as she pushed open the door and the crowd caught up to her, however, a Lexus pulled up with Jeff Winger behind the wheel.

"Get in," he ordered, and she did, barely closing the door before he hit the gas.


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Jeff glanced at Annie while she twisted in her seat to make sure hoards of Human Beings weren't following them, then looked away as she settled forwards once more. "See anything?"

"Nothing yet." Annie pushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face and nodded decisively. "But they'll be coming. How'd you know I needed help?"

"Old White Man Says," Jeff answered, grinning. "Pierce has been documenting this entire thing via Twitter." He tossed his phone into her lap. "Check and see what they're up to right now."

"Pierce posted, 'Someone said she jumped into a Lexus, which Brittles thinks belongs to Winger.' Then a few seconds later, 'Troy thinks Jeff wants Annie all to himself. I think we're going to Jeff's place to see if they're there.'"

Jeff swore to himself. "Well, that rules out my apartment. And I'm assuming once they don't find us there, they'll be heading to yours. Any ideas?"

"None," Annie groaned. "How did this all happen? This was so much fun yesterday."

"Fun? Don't you find it the tiniest bit creepy?" When she remained quiet, Jeff pulled into a mall parking lot and killed the ignition. "We should be safe here for a few hours."

After about ten minutes, Annie turned to him. "It wasn't creepy, not at first. It was just nice having people interested in what I was saying, paying attention, complimenting me. Okay, the come-ons were a little… off-putting, but otherwise, it was sort of lovely."

Jeff watched as color filled her face, as she glanced off self-consciously across the mostly abandoned lot. "It baffles me," he said slowly, "that you haven't been given that kind of interest. I guess it's because I didn't know you until Greendale, but you're a smart, enthusiastic, genuinely nice person with an interesting point of view and a decent sense of humor. You caught my attention."

Annie smiled a little at him. "That's sweet, Jeff. But that person sounds… boring."

Laughing a little, Jeff leaned against the steering wheel. "I guess, but that doesn't sum up the entire essence of Annie Edison. And, trust me, the last thing you are is boring." He suddenly realized that this sappy talk had gone on far longer than he was comfortable with, and smirked at her. "After all, I would never have made out with someone who bored me."

Swatting at him, Annie giggled a little. "Twice."

"Twice." They grinned at each other a little too long. Jeff cleared his throat and glanced nervously at his phone. "Pierce says they didn't have any luck at my place."

"Obviously."

"I think they may be planning something. Troy posted something about being a spy, and Abed corrected him and said it was more like being a private investigator." Jeff glanced up. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"They're splitting up and staking out our homes." Annie closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "I just wish I knew what was causing this."

Before Jeff could open his mouth, a car parked next to the Lexus, and a middle-aged man in a business suit climbed out, and began to walk away, when he happened to glance at the two of them. Jeff felt it again, the sparkling crackle of electricity, as the guy's gaze honed in on Annie, and he changed his course of direction and walked over to the car.

Jeff realized Annie still had her eyes shut, but they popped open as soon as he hit the automatic locks. "What? What's going on?" she said, sitting up as Jeff turned the key in the ignition. Turning her head, she let out a short shriek. The stranger's face was now even with her window, and he was grinning at her.

Throwing the car into drive, Jeff peeled out of the parking lot, looking back as the man began to run after them. Answering her question from earlier, Jeff shot Annie a grim look. "I don't know what's changed, but you and I are going to get to the bottom of it."


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Annie realized about the same time Jeff did that the only way to avoid awkward encounters like what had happened in the parking lot was for Annie to go into isolation. Unfortunately, neither of them was too flush in the pockets, but together, they managed to scrape up enough for a cheap motel room off the interstate just outside of the Greendale limits.

This, of course, presented another problem: she and Jeff were now stuck together in a small motel room. Luckily, it had two single beds; not so luckily, there was no door on the bathroom.

They were also able to get a pack of T-shirts, two pairs of shorts, some toothbrushes, and food from Walmart. After that, though, they were both tapped out. Tonight was going to be the only chance they had to figure this out before they were forced by necessity to return to civilization.

After a meager dinner of prepackaged sandwiches and chips, Annie stood outside, waiting for Jeff to complete his bathroom routine before bed. They'd stayed mostly quiet throughout dinner, interspersing bites with small-talk of inconsequential matters, like current events and movies and music. Anything to take their minds off the incredible discomfort of their lodging situation.

Annie thought it was a little amusing that two people who spent day after day together, and who had – one more than one occasion – thoroughly examined each other's mouths could still be so uncomfortable in the presence of one another. But really, a lot of the time, they had a buffer – be it a person or a situation. There was a lot she didn't know about Jeff, just as there was a lot that he probably didn't know about her. Funny how that realization had never crossed her mind before.

The door behind her opened, and she turned to see Jeff standing there in a black T-shirt and red shorts, his damp hair lying flat on his head for once. "It's all yours," he said.

She nodded and slipped past him, trying to ignore the crisp, clean smell of cheap soap on freshly scrubbed skin that was so different than his usual cloud of aftershave.

After quickly freshening up in the shower, Annie wrapped her head in one of the threadbare towels and quickly rinsed then hid her bra and panties in the last dry towel left hanging. She agonized for a moment about going out in the room without the rigid structure of her undergarments, but decided there was nothing to be done about it.

It was amazing the standards one was willing to compromise when one didn't really have an alternative.

When she was finished, she opened the door to invite Jeff back in, then quickly scrambled under the covers of the bed furthest from the door. When she looked back at Jeff, he seemed more amused than anything as he settled on his own bed.

"I always thought about seeing you in bed, but I have to say, this look is not really working for me."

Annie smiled a little and loosened her grip slightly on the nubby comforter she'd pulled up to her chin. "Most men find this very alluring."

"I bet." Jeff balled his pillow up and put it behind his back as he sat up against the headboard. His long, mostly bare legs were stretched out in front of him.

Annie tried not to stare. It was a strange thing to have such an absurd attraction to a man's legs, but Jeff's… well, they did it for her. Long, athletic, covered in just the right amount of hair. She'd become infatuated with his legs the very first time she'd seem them bared, during his pool game, during the course of which he had bared much more than that. Then there was the time when she had lost her pen, and they'd all stripped down. As soon as Jeff had shucked his pants, she was a goner. She couldn't have cared less about that pen in that moment. Oddly enough, though, it only seemed to be his legs. Troy and Abed had bared their legs (so had Pierce, though his had been in casts), but it was only this one pair that brought out this latent desire.

She struggled to ignore the fluttering low in her midsection, and cleared her throat. "I've given it a lot of thought. This obviously started the other morning when I was running late. So something had to have happened, to the school or to me, in the hours between the night before and when I finally showed up in the study room."

"As far as I know," Jeff said after thinking for a minute, "nothing happened to the school while I was in it. If it had, then why would I be the only one not affected? Did anything unusual happen to you?"

She scoffed. "Other than my car being taken apart, me running late, and that weird psychic lady? Nope, nothing unusual at all."

Jeff sat up straight. "What weird psychic lady?"

Annie was nonplussed. "Didn't I tell you about her? I was in her shop when you called me."

"I think I would remember you telling me about a psychic, Annie. What happened?"

So she told him the story, trying to edit the parts where the psychic had talked about their relationship. "And then you called."

Jeff swung his legs off the edge of the bed, deep in thought. "Right. And then what? Did you touch anything? Did she come back and say something to you?"

Annie frowned. "I looked at some of her little bottles and packets that she had sitting around. I accidentally knocked over some oil, but other than that, I just paid and ran out." She worried her lip for a moment, then sat up, too, leaning towards him hesitantly. "Jeff, do you think she may have… put a _curse_ on me?"

"Whatever it was, I think we can safely say that this psychic is probably the source of this whole issue. What was her name? The address of her shop?"

Thinking back, Annie tried to remember every detail. "I think maybe her name started with an S. It was something innocuous. Honestly, she wasn't anything like I'd imagine a psychic to look like. She just looked like a regular, forty-something blonde. The shop is right around the corner from my apartment. But I've never noticed it before. There's nothing on the outside that even shows that it _is_ a shop." She shook her head in frustration. "It's after nine now; the shop will probably be closed. I'll go by there tomorrow and see what I can find out."

"We'll go by tomorrow," Jeff corrected, then grimaced a little. "After all, I'm in it this far. I might as well see it through." He glanced around the room. "Well now that we've got that figured out, what more is there to do? I haven't gone to bed before eleven in probably twenty-five years."

Annie stared at the small TV with the antenna sticking out of the top. "I don't know what kind of reception we'll get on that thing. I guess we could just… talk?" Jeff didn't look too pleased at this suggestion, but didn't offer up any of his own either.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, before Annie finally realized that her drying hair was starting to fall out of her towel. She unwrapped it and spent a running her fingers through to free up any tangles. "You know-" she began, but broke off when she glanced Jeff's way.

He was staring at her hand in her hair with the same thunderstruck, hungry look she'd seen before. When he realized he had been caught, he looked away guiltily, then stood and walked to the TV, fussing with the antenna. "Yeah, we could probably get some basic channels from this."

Annie didn't say a word, just got up and returned the towel to the bathroom, combing out her hair while she was in there. She stared at herself in the stained mirror over the sink. She and Jeff had played this game too long, and it was getting more ridiculous with every semester. Now he was here, she was here, and it was time to hash this out.

With determination, she walked out of the bathroom to find him back on his bed, idly scratching one leg with the heel of his foot, while scowling at the still dark TV.

Annie was caught, hypnotized as the muscles in his calves flexed, and the stingy light from the lamp made his hair gleam gold.

After a minute, she realized that he had been talking the entire time she'd been standing there, and she jumped a little and turned her gaze to his bemused face. "What?"

Jeff looked down at his own legs, shook his head, and smirked a little. "Nothing. Never mind. Let's just get some sleep."

Shaking her head, Annie pulled back her covers and climbed in while he turned out the lamp.

Sleep was a long time coming.


End file.
